Arquette told People today that she was not aware of the outrage over her comments.

"Guess what?" she told the reporter. "At one point it was controversial that blacks couldn't vote. People need to talk about this. There is no reason why in 2015 women and men aren't making the same amount of money. It's time to talk about it now."

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Original: We were all Meryl Streep last night, on our feet and cheering for Patricia Arquette. The Boyhood star turned her Best Supporting
Actress acceptance speech into a rally cry for equal pay for women. "It's
our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in
the United States of America," she said. And, all rejoiced...until a
little while later in the evening, when the actress (probably inadvertently) somehow
seemed to forget that not all women are white or straight.

During her backstage press conference, Arquette continued to
talk about the cause, citing the fact that the highest percentage of children
living in poverty are in female-headed households.

"And, it's time for all
the women in America, and all the men that love women, and all the gay people,
and all the people of color that we've all fought for, to fight for us
now," she said.

Oof, Patty. Did you have to phrase it that way? Yes, it's
ridiculous that women make 78 cents on the dollar to men. But, as ThinkProgress points out, those statistics are much worse for women of
color, with black women earning 64 cents and Latinas 54 cents to white men's
dollar. So, yeah, racism isn't done. As the sister of an trans woman, Arquette's
probably quite aware that LGBTQ rights aren't all there. There's no reason to
turn this into some kind of competition over who's fought more for whom. Gays and
people of color have also been fighting for women's rights since the beginning
of the movement, even back when feminism seemed to ignore their efforts. These
battles are not and never will be mutually exclusive.

Now, we don't necessarily think this is what Arquette meant
to do. She was at the height of excitement after her win, and, by the way,
she's an actress, not a senator. Let's just recognize that last bit as the faux
pas it is, and fight on for everyone's equality.